


All I Wanted From Him Was Love

by senioritastyles



Series: Lynn's Fics [3]
Category: 5 Seconds of Summer (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Banter, Fluff, Hand Jobs, Kissing, Lashton - Freeform, M/M, Praise Kink, Smut, Tiny bit of Angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-04
Updated: 2017-02-04
Packaged: 2018-09-21 22:08:32
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,465
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9568865
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/senioritastyles/pseuds/senioritastyles
Summary: The stranger looks up, obviously frustrated and a little red in the face from his efforts to break in. "I just moved in yesterday and my fucking key won't work so I'm trying to pick the lock so I can get inside." Luke can't even hold back his snort of laughter, shaking his head as the stranger—apparently his new neighbor—glares at him. "You don't have to be a dick, you know. Who are you anyway?"Luke just laughs and leans a little more heavily on the wall. "I'm Luke, the guy who lives in the apartment you're trying to break into right now." The stranger freezes, slowly turning his head and looking at Luke with wide eyes as the lock finally clicks and the door pops open under his efforts. "Well, the apartment you've successfully broken into." He amends, dropping his used textbooks and notebooks on the floor as he picks the stranger's small key ring up off the floor and crosses the hallway to the door directly across from his own, sliding the key in the lock and popping the door open.Or: The Lashton part of the Malum balloon fic.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [social_reject](https://archiveofourown.org/users/social_reject/gifts).



> (title is from For The Record by Myah)

Luke is kind of exhausted after three classes in a row with hardly any time in between to eat or relax or breathe. The only thing he wants right now is to get back to his and Michael's apartment and sleep for the rest of the day and the entire weekend after that, but as he steps off the elevator and rounds the corner towards their door, he's met with the sight of a complete stranger kneeling on the floor in front of it, trying to pick the lock. Any other time Luke's first instinct would be to freak the hell out and chase the guy away, but right now he's way too tired for that and he doesn't really have the anger in him to do it. He and Michael don't have anything worth stealing anyway, they're broke college students for fuck's sake, so it's not like he's worried he might lose something valuable.

 

"Dude, what are you doing?" Luke asks, sighing and leaning against the wall with his heavy books in his hands since his piece of shit backpack broke on his way in to his first class of the day. 

 

The stranger looks up, obviously frustrated and a little red in the face from his efforts to break in. "I just moved in yesterday and my fucking key won't work so I'm trying to pick the lock so I can get inside." Luke can't even hold back his snort of laughter, shaking his head as the stranger—apparently his new neighbor—glares at him. "You don't have to be a dick, you know. Who are you anyway?" 

 

Luke just laughs and leans a little more heavily on the wall. "I'm Luke, the guy who lives in the apartment you're trying to break into right now." The stranger freezes, slowly turning his head and looking at Luke with wide eyes as the lock finally clicks and the door pops open under his efforts. "Well, the apartment you've successfully broken into." He amends, dropping his used textbooks and notebooks on the floor as he picks the stranger's small key ring up off the floor and crosses the hallway to the door directly across from his own, sliding the key in the lock and popping the door open. 

 

"Oh my god." The stranger says, his face completely flushed with embarrassment as Luke hands him his key and picks up his books, kicking his door open. "I'm so sorry dude, I swear I didn't mean to do that." 

 

Luke snorts another laugh, leaving his door wide open as he shuffles around inside and puts his stuff down, toeing his shoes off. "It's alright, really. You saved me from having to dig my key out and carrying all this shit at the same time so, no harm no foul." Luke checks the door handle to make sure nothing was damaged, nodding when he's satisfied. "Lock still works so it's cool." 

 

The stranger's anxiety visible deflates and his complexion turns back to a normal color as he leans against the doorjamb and watches Luke amble around the small kitchen. "I'm Ashton, by the way." 

 

Luke looks over with half a bite of cold leftover pizza in his mouth and he nods. "S'nice to meet you." He mumbles, talking around his food as he moves back around to stand near Ashton in the doorway. 

 

Ashton nods, biting his lip as he very obviously checks Luke out, figuring he's already embarrassed himself and he's got nothing else to lose. Luke finishes his pizza with a huff of laughter and a dimply smile, giving Ashton a good once-over as well and finding that he quite likes what he sees. "How is it that the hottest guy in the building just so happened to move in across the hall then?" Luke wonders, trying his best for charming and boyish—a skill his mom always said he possessed. 

 

Ashton's cheeks flame. "You think I'm the hottest guy in the building?" 

 

"No, that would be me." Another voice calls from the hallway, just out of Luke's view until Michael makes himself known, brushing past Ashton and letting himself into the room, tossing his stuff onto the couch as Luke rolls his eyes at his best friend. "Now, who are you?" 

 

"I'm Ashton, I live across the hall." Ashton explains, still blushing as Michael seems to check him out much differently than the way he and Luke had been looking at each other. 

 

"I'm Michael, I live here with this shit head." Michael admits, flopping himself back over the arm of the couch and landing with his head pillowed on Luke's broken backpack. "So, how did we come to meet the supposed hottest guy in the building then?" 

 

Luke barks a quick laugh as Ashton's face becomes a darker shade of red. "He was trying to pick the lock on our door because he thought it was his and his key wouldn't work." 

 

Michael immediately starts cackling loudly, clapping in amusement. "That's epic as fuck." 

 

"Yeah, well." Luke shrugs, biting his lip and looking at Ashton for a second as Michael's laughter dies down. "I'm, uh, going to Ashton's apartment with him....for a little bit."  
Ashton looks confused for half a second before he just decides to go with it, picking up on the undertone of Luke's voice and nodding, gesturing for him to follow Ashton out the door. Michael makes an uninterested sound and waves them off, Luke shutting the door behind himself and leaning against it once he's out, taking a deep breath before looking up at Ashton's curious gaze. "He can be......difficult, to handle. Sometimes." Luke explains awkwardly, hoping Ashton will somehow just understand exactly what he means. 

 

"Okay." Ashton nods, standing in his open doorway. "Come in then." 

 

Luke puffs out a long breath and half of his mouth quirks up in a small smile, the exhaustion from the day creeping back into the forefront of his mind as he follows Ashton into an apartment laid out almost identically to his own, the only difference being Ashton has little to no furniture anywhere. There's a slightly tacky zebra print rug over the dark hardwood, right in the middle of where the living room is—or would be if there was any furniture to distinguish the room as such—and that's more or less it besides the plain cardboard boxes scattered around the room, each one with hastily scrawled words on it to indicate which room it's for and what's in it. Even the kitchen only has the bare minimum of appliances that all come standard with the apartments. The only other thing Luke can see is a currently dismantled drumkit in the corner of the room, an elaborate array of cymbals and drums that immediately draws Luke's attention. 

 

"There's not much in here yet, the moving van got lost and they apparently won't be able to get here until Monday, so I'm kinda stuck with just the boxes I could fit in my car." Ashton shrugs, kicking at the corner of the rug. 

 

Luke nods quietly, still focused on the drums in the corner. "You play?" 

 

Ashton looks up from the floor and follows Luke's sight line, his smile growing immensely when he sees what Luke is talking about. "Yeah, I have since I was ten." 

 

"Any particular genre?" Luke wonders, strolling over and gently picking up a random cymbal to inspect it. 

 

"Uh, I started out playing mostly jazzy stuff but the band I'm in now plays like a mix between rock and jazz and pop." Ashton admits, leaning his shoulder on the wall near where Luke is kneeling on the floor, chuckling at Luke's confused expression. "It's mostly like a pop-punk sort of feel, but a lot of the vocal and bass elements are jazz sounding." 

 

Luke nods and raps his knuckles on the cymbal in his hands, listening to the soft sound it creates. "Sounds really cool." He decides, pausing for a moment before clarifying his statement with a small laugh and a glance up at Ashton through his lashes. "The band thing, I mean. Although the cymbal sounds cool too." 

 

Ashton huffs a laugh and holds his hand out for the cymbal, smiling when Luke hands it over. "Are you into music?" 

 

"Who isn't?" Luke counters, squinting his eyes almost like a challenge as Ashton laughs again and slides down to sit with his back against the wall, facing Luke. 

 

"True, pretty much everyone enjoys music to some extent but I meant like, does it interest you? Is it something you like to learn about and explore? That kind of 'into'." Ashton explains, turning the shining equipment piece over and over in his hands. 

 

Luke bites his lip and nods. "I'd say so, yeah. When I was a kid I always talked about being a musician." 

 

"So why aren't you one then? What stopped you?" 

 

"Life. Practicality. The fact that my attention span is shit and I could never focus on learning how to play an instrument without wanting to do a million other different things at the same time." Luke admits with a small shrug, sounding only a little bit sad about the fact but mostly just accepting of it. 

 

Ashton smiles at the floor and shakes his head. "It does take commitment, I'll tell you that much. I can't even tell you how many hours I've spent in basements and garages just trying to understand basic drumming skills and trying to figure out how not to break my wrists when I'm drumming." 

 

"How many times did you actually break your wrists?" Luke wonders, slightly horrified in anticipation for the answer.

 

"Twice, but they were both when I first started drumming and I've always been self-taught so I didn't have any knowledge or instruction on how to properly hit the drums and how to hold the sticks and how to tilt the drums at certain angles to avoid hurting yourself. Now I know better." Ashton explains, a wry smile stretched over his lips.

 

"I didn't know drumming could be so scientific." Luke chuckles, his tone soaked in wonder as Ashton nods and carefully put the cymbal back down on the floor with the rest of them. "So what's your band called then?" 

 

"Payback." Ashton says, looking into Luke's eyes and trying to gage his general reaction. "We're still currently independent but we scored some studio time over the next few months, which is why I had to move out here. Traveling from Melbourne to Sydney every time we needed to record would've just been too much money and too much stress and too much driving for me, so instead of making it harder on the rest of the band who were all already here, I just decided to pack up and move here." 

 

"That's definitely a lot of dedication. Leaving everything eight hours away to record the drums. You must really believe in the band." Luke muses quietly, treading lightly in case he strikes some sort of personal chord with Ashton that's not supposed to be discussed. 

 

Ashton doesn't seem bothered by any of it, however. "I do. I've never believed in anything more." 

 

Luke isn't sure if it's the passion and conviction in Ashton's voice or maybe the way the lowlighting creates a glint in Ashton's pretty hazel eyes that looks like hope or if it's this talk about commitment to something potentially bigger than anything Luke's ever dreamed of, but something is tugging at his heart and his mind at the same time and it's such a unique feeling. It reminds him of when he was younger and he wanted to be anything and everything he could think to desire for himself, it reminds him of wanting to believe in something magical. 

 

"I'd really like to hear some of your music sometime." Luke says and it seem to catch Ashton just a little bit off guard, the way Luke's voice conveys genuine interest when most people just want to almost denounce his choice in career. 

 

"Really?" Ashton wonders softly, almost whispering in awe of the sweet look on Luke's face as the blonde nods. "Well uhm, we're recording in a real studio for the first time tomorrow afternoon if you, uh....if you wanna come with me?" He phrases it like a question, like he's not sure if it's okay to make the suggestion, but Luke lights up at the idea. 

 

"I’d love to." Luke nods quickly, wanting to make sure that Ashton realizes he's being genuinely serious. "It'll probably be a better first date than this one." 

 

Ashton's body stiffens and he looks at Luke like the blonde has four heads. "Is this.....is this a date?" 

 

Luke shrugs. "I suppose it could be considered one, yeah. I thought it was." 

 

Ashton blinks dumbly at Luke, his cheeks turning a pretty light pink. "Oh." His voice is much too squeaky, much too nervous sounding now that he knows Luke's considering this a date which means Luke likes him enough already to want to go on a date with him which means-- 

 

"I can practically hear you freaking out in your head right now, Ashton." Luke halts Ashton's rampant spiraling thoughts, making him look up and focus back on the real world. "Just relax okay, I'm not proposing marriage. It's just a....."not date" date. Like a date that wasn't technically a date." 

 

"Right, yeah. A "not date" date. Cool." Ashton nods, comically taking a few deep breaths to chill himself out. 

 

Luke only feels a little bad for laughing under his breath as he stands up and closes the short distance between himself and Ashton's still sitting body. "You're kind of really adorable, you know that?" He asks, holding his hands out to help Ashton up. 

 

Ashton's blush deepens to a stark red as he grabs Luke's hands and lets the blonde help him stand, a little lost for words under the intent stare of immensely blue eyes. Luke just chuckles softly again and leans in to kiss Ashton's cheek quickly before letting go of his hands with a smile and strolling towards the door. 

 

"Come get me tomorrow before you leave for the studio, okay?" Luke calls over his shoulder, swinging the door open and waiting for Ashton's distracted response. 

 

"Uh yeah, okay." Ashton promises, his fingers ghosting over where he can still feel Luke's lips on his cheek. 

 

\----------------------------------------------- 

 

Luke has been up since eight in the morning, impatiently waiting for Ashton to knock on the door. The couch is probably permanently indented around the shape of his ass at this point, considering how long he's been sat here fully dressed and waiting. He knows he looks stupid, that Ashton said it was an afternoon session and not early morning and that he's ready way too early, but he's too excited and anxious to get to go hang out with a cute guy in a recording studio and who can blame him? 

 

Michael's certainly been trying. "You're aware that you're acting like a doofus, right?" 

 

"Michael, shut up." Luke mutters, staring at the TV but not really watching whatever it is that Michael's had on all morning. 

 

"I'm just saying, dude, not even girls do this shit. You've been waiting for him to come over for almost four hours now." Michael clarifies, coming out of the kitchen with his arms full of a bowl of tortilla chips and a jar of salsa. "Total doofus behavior." 

 

"And you're a total asshat, Michael." Luke counters, choosing to ignore the fact that Michael is mostly right. 

 

"Very true, but it doesn't change the fact that you're a doof--" 

 

Michael is cut off by several short knocks on their apartment door, Luke jumping up out of his seat and once again ignoring Michael and his quiet laughter at Luke's eagerness. The blonde opens the door quickly, smiling when he's greeted by Ashton's slightly tired looking but nevertheless cheerful face. 

 

"Hey." Ashton breathes in a rushed voice, his hair tucked away completely in a black beanie and his muscular arms nearly burst from the long sleeves of the tight grey shirt he's got on. 

 

Luke's a little breathless himself as he tries to discreetly admire the way Ashton looks right now. He thinks that maybe he noticed yesterday how gorgeous Ashton is, but he hadn't given it much thought until Ashton was standing in front of him looking tousled and sleepy and strong in all his tight clothing. "Hey." He replies much too belatedly, his cheeks heating up as Ashton huffs a short laugh. 

 

"You ready to go?" Ashton asks, leaning himself against the doorjamb and rubbing at his eyes as Luke checks himself for everything he needs. 

 

Luke feels in his pockets for his phone, his wallet, and his keys before checking to make sure he's got on proper clothes and shoes. Once he's satisfied that he looks good and he's got everything, he nods at Ashton and exits the apartment, forgoing any goodbyes to Michael since he's been a dick all morning and he doesn't deserve any. Luke locks the door behind himself and follows Ashton all the way down to the parking garage beneath their building. Ashton's worn out champagne colored Honda Civic is a bit of a sore thumb in the small sea of black and white cars but Luke quite enjoys it, giggling quietly when Ashton apologizes for the car's general existence. 

 

"It's cool, I don't even have a car. I use Michael's whenever I can, but other than that it's public transportation for me, so you're already a step up in the world." Luke explains as he slides into the passenger's seat, staring at Ashton's awkward smile that indicates he's trying to keep his laughter inside. 

 

Ashton turns the radio on and hits the button to play the CD, the volume down low enough that some older Blink-182 is playing softly underneath Ashton's voice as they pull out of the parking garage. "So, if we're calling this a "not date" date, I suppose we should probably get to know each other, right?" 

 

"Yeah, probably. I'm Luke." Luke laughs, tilting his head towards Ashton and looking at him nearly upside down with a big goofy smile on his face. 

 

Ashton glances over for a half a second before focusing back on the road, shaking his head and laughing. "You dick, you know that's not what I meant." 

 

"Okay, okay." Luke giggles, sitting back the right way in his seat. "What do you wanna know?" 

 

"Full name." 

 

"Luke Robert Hemmings." 

 

"Age." 

 

"20." 

 

"Where are you from?" 

 

Luke snorts a laugh. "This sounds like a job interview. I'm from here, in Sydney. Did you want my ID and driver's license number too?" 

 

"Alright smart ass." Ashton huffs, the smile on his face giving away that he's not actually miffed. "Ask me something then." 

 

"I wanna know everything you asked me." Luke decides, folding his arms like he's being defiant and Ashton chooses not to burst his bubble on that front. 

 

"Uh, my full name is Ashton Fletcher Irwin, I'm 22, and I'm from Hornsby." Ashton spouts off, turning the car towards the highway. "When's your birthday?" 

 

"July 16th. Yours?" 

 

"July 7th. What's your favorite color?" Ashton chuckles, knowing he's asking the dumbest generic questions but figuring it's the safest route to go down when he doesn't know Luke's personality and how he'll react to certain questions yet. 

 

"Red. And I'm gonna guess that your favorite color is.......purple." Luke tries, wanting to steer a little bit away from the back and forth constant stream of small talk. 

 

Ashton shakes his head, switching lanes and passing the older woman in the beat up Nissan. "Nope. Try again." 

 

Luke bites his lip, turning his body toward Ashton and looking him up and down as if the boy's monochromatic grey and black head-to-toe look would give him any clue. "Green?" Ashton shakes his head again and Luke sighs, looking around the car for any clues instead. "Blue? Pink? Orange? Yellow? Periwinkle?" 

 

Ashton laughs loudly at Luke's attempts, shaking his head the whole time. "Nope, none of the above." 

 

"What is it then?" Luke wonders, his tone exasperated. 

 

Ashton holds back another laugh. "Red." 

 

"Oh. Well that's cool." Luke nods. "That we have the same favorite color, I mean." 

 

Ashton nods back just as they pull into the parking lot of the small studio. Luke looks at the discolored bricks and the worn out looking glass door and the general "faux" dilapidation of the building that makes it look somehow lived in and well used and it makes a smile quirk up one side of his mouth as Ashton shuts the car off and gets out. Luke is quick to follow, trailing Ashton all the way to the front door. 

 

Ashton suddenly turns with his hand just short of the metal pull handle, looking at Luke with an odd sort of desperation in his eyes. "Look, I know it's not impressive or fancy or some big scale record label building, but it's really cool and the people who work here are awesome and--" 

 

"Ashton," Luke stops him short of his rant, putting his hand on Ashton's arm to keep his attention, "it doesn't matter what the place looks like. What matters is what you do here, the music you create, the songs you write. Where you are isn't important, it's what you choose to make of it." 

 

Ashton blinks rapidly at Luke's sincere expression, feeling his stomach flutter like a hummingbird as he tries to get his voice to work again. Ultimately it doesn't work so he just nods and luckily Luke seems to understand that it's not just a simple nod—it's one that means a hell of a lot more. The inside of the building is homely, inviting in a way that makes Luke not want to leave at all ever, the warm toned fairy lights strung all over the tops of the walls creating a happy feeling and in all honestly it really looks like someone's small home converted into a studio. The dark wood floors are shiny in the dim light and there's huge sectioned off area of the room that's been made into a soundproof room with glass around the upper half and wood around the bottom, that too strung up with fairy lights and inside is filled with recording equipment and instruments. Outside that room is a soundboard and several computers and the entire expanse of the room is littered with different sized couches and chairs and tables that are all mismatched but somehow seem to fit together. 

 

"Hey Ash." Some boy with messy silver hair says from one of the couches, surrounded by three other guys who are all tapping away at their phones. 

 

"Hey guys." Ashton replies, grabbing Luke's hand and leading him over towards the group. "This is Luke." 

 

All four of them look up at that, suddenly very interested in the tall and broad blonde Ashton's holding hands with. A guy with his dark hair tied up in a bun smiles and sticks his hand out. "I'm Dom, it's cool to meet you." 

 

"Yeah, we were under the impression that Ashton didn't have friends." The silver haired boy jokes, holding his own hand out after Luke finishes shaking Dom's. "I'm Sam."

 

"You're an ass is what you are." Ashton chides, rolling his eyes as Luke shakes hands with the remaining two boys, fraternal twins called Leighton and Nick. 

 

"I think Sam's funny." Luke argues, crossing his arms over his chest and sticking his tongue out when Ashton gives him an incredulous look. 

 

Sam laughs loudly in response. "Oh I like him, we're keeping this one." 

 

Ashton sighs and shakes his head, sitting himself down on one of the single cushioned seats. "I hate all of you." 

 

"Even me?" A female voice calls from the front door, her decently tall frame coming into view after a few seconds. 

 

Ashton chuckles. "No Lynn, I could never hate you." 

 

The girl, Lynn, tosses her dark blonde hair and gives Ashton a smile that brightens the room and seems to perk up everyone in it as she sits down in the boss-style office chair in front of the soundboard and recording booth. "Good because if you did, I'd purposely make you sound like shit." 

 

Everyone laughs and Lynn immediately launches into conversation with Sam and Leighton that Luke isn't particularly paying attention to; instead he's looking at Ashton. "Who is she?" 

 

"That's Lynn, she's our producer. She and her brother Christopher own this studio." Ashton explains, looking over at Lynn as she rolls up the sleeves of her dark red sweater, revealing a small tattoo on her forearm near the crook of her elbow—tiny black stars and even tinier black dots between them in a clear pattern, something Luke recognizes as the Gemini constellation. 

 

"Hey, that's a really cool tattoo." Luke calls, nodding towards Lynn's arm when they girl turns her head. 

 

She looks down at herself and slaps her hand over the tattoo with a huge smile on her face. "Thanks, I got it for my dad." 

 

Luke nods and smiles back as Lynn jumps into conversation with Sam again, the general direction of it leading to recording vocals for a song Lynn wrote with Ashton. Luke sits on the floor between Ashton's knees—even though there's plenty of seating available—and he watches as Sam gets himself ready inside the booth, headphones on as Lynn talks to him through the small microphone in front of her. They set everything up and Lynn starts playing the track through Sam's headphones, the only sound audible is that of Sam singing the words and the notes when it's time and Luke feels swept up by it all—overwhelmed in a good way. Although he can't hear the music he can tell by the way Sam is singing that it's emotional, it's meant to really make you feel something, and the words from what Luke can pick up are heartbreaking but there's hope behind it. It's so complex and to know that Ashton wrote it really makes Luke want to know Ashton and what he's about and what could've possibly made him hurt enough that he had to put it all down in a song that Luke kind of wants to cry over. He knows it's probably a weird thing to do in retrospect, but Luke reaches his hand down and wraps it around Ashton's right ankle and holds it as they listen to Sam and Lynn stop and start recording every so often to fix something or tweak the notes or skip to a different part. 

 

Luke isn't sure how long they sit there, how long he keeps his loose-ish grip on Ashton's leg, but the vocals are apparently very nearly finished by the time they decide to call it a day and everyone is proud and smiling about the fact that their first time in a real studio was such a success—even Luke feels ecstatic when it has nothing to do with him. 

 

When they get outside, after everyone has said their goodbyes and is in their separate cars, Ashton looks at Luke almost apologetically. "I'm sorry I made you sit through that, it was probably so boring." 

 

Luke is quick to shake his head, eyes wide with honesty. "No, Ashton, not at all. It was the furthest thing from boring." 

 

"Really?" Ashton's genuine shock sort of makes Luke feel horrible because maybe he'd been acting a certain way without realizing it. 

 

"Yeah, seriously Ashton it was so cool to see and that song he was recording....I was afraid to talk at all because I didn't want to miss the words. It was such an incredible message." Luke explains as Ashton's face starts glowing with the beginnings of a smile that he's clearly trying to hold back. 

 

"I don't know if I'd say incredible..." 

 

"I would." Luke defends, and as he says it the sky opens up and it starts raining, slowly at first but it picks up fast, pounding against the windows as the car sits idling in the parking lot of the studio. "Ashton, that words that you wrote were so meaningful and complex and they way you talked about having a toxic relationship with someone that you just can't bring yourself to end because it's so familiar....god, Ashton how can you not think it's incredible?" 

 

Ashton blinks slowly. "You understood what I was talking about in the song?" His voice is quiet, almost breathless like Luke's comprehension knocked the oxygen right out of him. 

 

"I did. Despite popular theory, I'm actually decently smart." Luke chuckles, a half smile pulling one side of his face up. 

 

"That's not what I meant, I just....I tried to make it as metaphorical as possible and usually when I do that it's pretty hard for people to read between the lines and not take it at face value." Ashton explains, shaking his head like he can't quite believe Luke figured him out so easily but also like he's glad to have finally been figured out. 

 

Luke looks at him softly. "Well my love history hasn't exactly been the smoothest so I suppose it's easier for me to pick out the deeper meanings behind things like that."

 

Ashton seems surprised that someone can relate to his experiences, although to be fair it's not like it's totally uncommon for relationships to suck—he just never expected to find it so close to him, eight feet from his front door and about fourteen inches from him right now and he feels like maybe there's some sort of connection to Luke that's sort of visibly forming. It's like a string, exactly fourteen inches long, pulled taught between them but there's some slack forming as Luke moves closer and closer and closer until there's no choice but to slide their lips together right there with the rain beating down on the windshield and blurring everything outside of the car way past recognition. Buildings, passing cars, passing people—it all just looks grey and undefined but inside with Luke's lips moving against his own, everything is bursting with color and clear edges, everything feels sharper. The string feels shortened, down to just one inch of lead way, forcing them to stay together but they find that neither of them minds and that neither of them wants to move anyway. Luke's starting to lose his breath but he doesn't care, Ashton can have it because all he needs right now is this kiss and the hand running through his hair to hold him still—although he wasn't going anywhere anyway. 

 

\----------------------------------------------- 

 

"Michael, will you please go with me?" Luke begs for probably the fiftieth time today alone—possibly the thousandth time this week. 

 

"Luke, I don't wanna go to some weird underground music festival." Michael repeats—it's been his answer every single time Luke's asked. 

 

Luke sighs heavily. "Mikey, please? I know you're music taste is very specific but it won't kill you to give it a chance and if you hate it then you don't ever have to come with me again, I swear. I just really don't wanna go alone and Ashton got me two tickets anyway." 

 

Michael's head bangs back harshly on the arm of the couch as he lets out his own long sigh, the pause after lasting even longer as Luke waits impatiently. "I guess I'll go, if only to make sure you don't do anything dumb and irresponsible." 

 

Luke jumps up from his spot on the loveseat, his smile huge and triumphant. "Really? You'll go?" 

 

"Yes, now stop asking me about it before I change my mind." Michael huffs, clearly not entirely happy about having to go. 

 

Luke quickly shuts up but his smile doesn't falter as he races off to his room to text Ashton and tell him that he'll be there tomorrow. Ashton's reply is immediate and full of excitement, telling Luke that he can't wait to see him and that he especially can't wait to kiss him. Luke's face heats up but he can't stop himself from admitting that he can't wait to be kissed, and even though he and Ashton haven't necessarily defined any type of relationship they've taken to calling each other "baby" and "babe" in the few months that they've known each other and it feels a lot like they're dating—hell, Luke's been with Ashton almost every single day since they're met and he's seen the process of recording and mixing their entire EP, sitting on the studio floor between Ashton's knees unless he was recording the drums. Luke knows in the grand scheme of things that titles don't really matter, all that matters is that they know what they are to each other and Luke thinks that if he really had to give Ashton some sort of label it wouldn't be "boyfriend" because that doesn't really mean too much—he'd say Ashton's more like "his" and he's definitely Ashton's. 

 

\-------------------------------------------------- 

 

Luke only feels marginally bad for sort of ditching Michael an hour after they get to the festival. He's going with "marginally" because he left Michael's side to see Ashton back in the tour bus area and he doesn't really feel guilty about it because Michael's a big boy and he can entertain himself somehow. Right now Luke is waiting at the small gate where Ashton told him to be, leaning against the slightly cold chain-link fence and watching all the oddly dressed people go by much the same way the security guard is watching Luke. 

 

"Hey you." 

 

Luke turns when he hears Ashton's voice, a smile stretching across his face as he takes in the way the sun makes the natural highlights in Ashton's honey colored hair shine more than usual. "Hey." 

 

Ashton steps around the gate and the guard and pulls Luke into him, hugging him tightly and breathing in the smell of vanilla and cinnamon. "I missed you." 

 

"Missed you too." Luke mumbles, his lips moving against the side of Ashton's head. 

 

Ashton pulls away reluctantly, reaching for his back pocket and pulling out a backstage pass on a black lanyard, slinging it around Luke's neck before taking his hand and leading him back around the gate and towards one of the smaller buses in the huge lot. "We don't go on for about two hours still, so we have some time to chill out together." 

 

Luke nods and keeps a tight grip on Ashton's much larger hand as the door to the bus swings open and Ashton's band comes pouring out. Leighton looks at Luke and smiles. "Hey blondie, nice to see you again." 

 

"You too." Luke nods, waving at Sam and Nick as they all come down the short set of steps. 

 

"Where are you guys headed?" Ashton asks, squeezing Luke's hand.

 

"To eat at that cool pizza place across the street. Wanna come?" Nick offers, jerking his thumb over his shoulder to emphasize his point. 

 

Ashton shakes his head. "Nah, I'm gonna hang here with Luke." The guys nod and they all head off while Ashton pulls Luke inside. "I suppose I should give you the grand tour of the place, huh?" Luke nods and Ashton waves his arm out dramatically. "So this is the front room. We're hardly ever in here unless the back room gets too crowded or noisy." He tugs Luke gently along into somewhat of a hallway with a bunch of stacked beds with curtains in front of them "This is the bunk area, this is where we sleep and this one," Ashton starts, pointing to the middle bunk on the left with the white and gold accented bedding and the warm toned fairy lights strung around the top, the battery pack sitting in the corner by Ashton's pillows and some pictures taped to the wall, "is mine." 

 

Luke bites his lip on a smile and lets go of Ashton's hand, climbing his way into the bunk and flopping down onto his stomach once he's fully in it. Ashton laughs as Luke hums in contentment, smiling at the way the blonde's cheek squishes up when he turns and lays it on the pillow. "This is the softest bedding I've ever felt." Luke hums again, sighing dreamily as his eyes blink open lazily and look at Ashton's sweet smile. 

 

"Come on, cutie, we still have one more room to see." Ashton giggles, shaking his head at Luke's adorable pout. 

 

"Carry me." Luke requests, phrasing it like a simple statement rather than a question like it should be. 

 

Ashton snorts but he reaches in and wraps his arms around Luke's waist, tugging until the blonde's body is closer to the edge of the bunk and then he picks Luke up and carries him over his shoulder as Luke shrieks and giggles, his hands gripping the back Ashton's white t-shirt so hard it wrinkles. "This here is the back room where most of the hanging out happens, we got video games and a DVD player and a mini fridge." 

 

"Party animals, huh?" Luke jokes, still slung over Ashton's shoulder as he looks around at the room. 

 

Ashton swats at Luke's ass in retaliation for his sarcasm, making the blonde squeak and jump a little bit before carefully putting him down on the couch. "Watch it you."

 

Luke giggles as Ashton leans down and pushes him sideways, getting him to lay on his back along the couch so the older boy has enough room to climb on and hover his whole body right over Luke's. "You know, you promised there would be kisses, and I have yet to receive a single one." 

 

Ashton smiles and moves up, nudging his nose against Luke's before tilting his head just a little bit and pushing his lips against Luke's. Luke immediately responds, mouth moving in perfect sync with Ashton's, lips parting when the older boy's tongue gently licks at the seam. They kiss like that for a few minutes, moving slowly and gently against each other with Luke's hands holding the sides of Ashton's face. Ashton moves his hands up from where they were just resting idly on the couch, threading one through the longer hair at the front of Luke's head and yanking harshly to separate their mouths. Luke gasps loudly at the pain, the sound melting into a moan when Ashton's lips latch onto the side of his neck and start sucking, hissing when Ashton's teeth nip at the red patch and turn it slightly purple. 

 

"Shit, Ash." Luke breathes, almost whining when Ashton moves to leave another mark, making Luke chew on his own lip. 

 

Ashton hums against Luke's neck, leaving two more dark marks along the skin before moving back up and slotting his lips against Luke's again briefly. "Has anyone ever told you how pretty you are?" Luke blushes and shakes his head, biting at his lip again. "Well you are, Luke. God, you're such a pretty boy." Ashton mutters, looking all over Luke like he's never seen him before, like he can't believe Luke is real. "So gorgeous." 

 

Luke's blush on deepens as Ashton sits up on his knees and puts his hands on Luke's hips, dragging them up under Luke's shirt until the material of it rests just above Luke's nipples, feeling the soft skin as he stares. Ashton gently pinches both of Luke's nipples at the same time, making the blonde's back arch up and his brows furrow in pleasure-pain and he whimpers softly. Ashton moves his hands back down slowly, tugging at the button and zipper on Luke's tight jeans until they both come undone and he looks up into Luke's hooded eyes for permission to keep going. Luke nods, lifting his hips so Ashton can pull the jeans down to rest around Luke's thighs. The boxers come down next and Luke's semi slaps up against his bare stomach, making him blush all the way down to his neck as Ashton just sits up over him and looks at his body, licking his lips in a way that makes Luke feel hot all over, squirming in Ashton's grip. 

 

"Can't believe you're mine." Ashton whispers almost to himself, readjusting himself so he's laying on his side between the back of the couch and Luke's body, his chest pressed into Luke's arm as he ghosts his hand down towards Luke's dick. "Pretty baby." 

 

Luke whimpers quietly when Ashton's hand wraps around his dick, turning his head towards Ashton's in search of a kiss that he's quickly granted. Ashton's hand moves slowly, teasingly up and down on Luke, thumb swiping over the head each time he reaches it and it has Luke leaking and groaning in no time. Ashton speeds up his movements after a few minutes of torturing Luke, chuckling when the blonde whines in happiness. 

 

"Ashton....fuck." Luke moans, head tilting back and pushing into the couch cushion beneath him. 

 

Ashton groans back at him. "God it's so hot when you say my name like that." The older boy kisses Luke's lips in quick spurts, his hand moving as quickly as he can possibly make it. "You're so fucking hot Luke, so fucking beautiful." 

 

Luke can feel himself grow more desperate by the minute, each word from Ashton's mouth driving him crazy in the most wonderful way, each stroke of Ashton's hand filling him with so much pleasure he feels like he's swimming in it. His toes are starting to curl inside his shoes as Ashton keeps mumbling quietly about how pretty Luke is, especially right now, and his breath is stuttering out of his chest and landing on Ashton's lips each time the older boy gives him a short kiss. 

 

"Ash!" Luke squeals, his legs twitching as he arches up and comes, painting his lower stomach and Ashton's hand. 

 

"Pretty boy, that's it, let it out." Ashton encourages, whispering right in Luke's ear as the younger boy does as he's told and fully lets go. 

 

Luke feels needy for more attention when he starts coming down from his high, leaning in the barely one centimeter of space and attaching his mouth to Ashton's. The older boy kisses him back for probably longer than he should've allowed when he hears recognizable voices just outside the bus. "Babe, we gotta get you cleaned up, the guys are back." Ashton mutters, very reluctantly pulling away from Luke and sitting up with more will power than he thought he possessed. 

 

Luke huffs and whines quietly but he obeys and he stands up on shaky legs, watching Ashton hurrying to the small bathroom and grab a towel, cleaning his hand off and then cleaning Luke's stomach off as the younger boy tugs his boxers and jeans back up and redoes them. Luke struggles to calm himself down enough that he's not super sex flushed when the guys walk in but when they do come in he finds that it doesn't matter because they're all staring at his neck where he conveniently forgot Ashton left several hickeys. 

 

Nick is trying his hardest to hold back a cackle as he shakes his head. "I'm not even gonna say anything about that, but Ash we gotta go get to the back of the stage we're playing at." 

 

Ashton nods, looking less embarrassed than Luke but still a little blushy as they all bustle around and change shirts or shoes and grab whatever they might need to perform before they step off the bus. Ashton turns to Luke and he can't help but chuckle just a little bit at the state of his neck, kissing Luke's lips as somewhat of an apology even though he isn't really all that sorry. 

 

"You're the worst." Luke pouts, huffing when Ashton giggles at him. 

 

"Sorry baby." Ashton amends, kissing Luke's cheek when they reach the gate they came in from. "I gotta go, but I'll see you from the stage, okay?" Ashton asks, pressing his forehead against Luke's. 

 

Luke nods and smiles brightly. "Okay." Ashton kisses him one more time and nudges their noses together for good measure before he turns to follow the rest of his band toward the stage looking more nervous than Luke's seen him in all the time they've known each other. "Ash?" 

 

"Yeah?" Ashton calls, turning back just slightly to look at Luke. 

 

"You can do this, you know. I believe in you." 

 

Ashton visibly relaxes, his shoulders deflating and the tension he was exuding slipping away as Luke smiles softly at him. Ashton nods and he turns back, jogging to catch up to his band as Luke heads off to find Michael, excited to watch Ashton's first official performance, especially knowing it won't be the last.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello friends it is I, the shittiest piece of shit to ever exist. I wanted to post this the day after the Malum one since this is sort of like a "prequel" but the Lashton version except I suck ass in the bad way and it took me way too long to write this and SURPRISE it was supposed to be super short and sweet and to the point but you know. Whatever. Anyway, I really hope this doesn't suck too badly and that you all enjoyed. If you did, please leave some comments and feedback below and I love you all very much.
> 
> ****ALSO ALSO ALSO if you're looking for some new music to jam to I HIGHLY H I G H L Y recommend the album Controlled Chaos by Myah!!!! The title is from one of the songs on there called For The Record which is probably my favorite, but they're all sick ass dope ass songs and if you check them out you should totally let me know which one is your fave! Like I said I love them all and I highly recommend the album but if I had to pick an order for the seven of them I'd say: For The Record, WarFare, Cash, Circus Freak, Change, Moio, then Expedition. <3****
> 
>  
> 
> tumblr: senioritastyles & babyhemhem  
> twitter: xtraceex  
> instagram: traceethekid  
> snapchat: youngtray


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